


Four teens and an alien, saviors of Mars

by fillory



Category: The Penumbra Podcast
Genre: Alternate Universe - Animorphs, Alternate Universe - Fusion, Canonical Character Death, Gen, Notfic, Other
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-23
Updated: 2019-08-23
Packaged: 2020-09-24 12:07:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 718
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20358226
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fillory/pseuds/fillory
Summary: In theAnimorphsAU, Juno Steel doesn’t hesitate for a second before accepting the morphing cube.





	Four teens and an alien, saviors of Mars

**Author's Note:**

> Originally posted [to tumblr](https://ineskew.tumblr.com/post/178676289847) on 2 October 2018.

Juno doesn’t hesitate for a second before accepting the morphing cube.

Sasha takes a bit more convincing (she’s always been a stickler for things like _caution_ and _evidence_) but as soon as she agrees, Alessandra, Mick, and Annie are all in.

Juno knows Ben would be first in line to save the world if he hadn’t stayed home sick today; he tries to argue with the alien general that they should wait for his brother, let him take the cube home to him, he’d be _good_ at this—but before they can do anything, the enemy warship is landing and their chance is lost.

It’s impossible to keep secrets from Ben, so Juno doesn’t try. He comes home half-terrified, half-elated, and within seconds of locking their bedroom door (a risk in and of itself) melts into their five-eyed housecat. Ben is, predictably, grossed-out and delighted. He quiets into seriousness when Juno tells him of the coming threat, the aliens that are at this very moment in the process of enslaving their planet.

Ben is their first ally against the Yeerks.

He’s also their first casualty.

That’s if you don’t count Annie._ At least she’s still alive_, Juno snaps at Sasha in a moment of weakness.

_She’s a fucking rabbit_, Sasha bites back. _Don’t try to tell me she doesn’t count._

It’s a fair point. They lost Annie in their second mission, a fool’s errand disguised as a strike at the Yeerk base. They were warned about the two-hour morphing limit, but that’s not the same as standing powerless as your baby sister, trapped in a duct too small to move, slowly realizes she’ll never see her own face again. As she screams.

But Ben is worse. Ben is dead, and Juno will never be able to talk to him again.

Ben is dead, and Sarah Steel’s hands are what killed him.

Finding out that his own mother volunteered to become a Controller—and stood by while the monster in her head killed her son—is the worst blow.

This is months into their war. Almost a year: they’ve been preternaturally lucky, all considered, as Juno, Sasha, Mick, and Alessandra survive endless battles with only a handful of scars between them (physical, that is—stars bless the morphing power’s healing factor). They may be no closer to turning the tides, but at least they’re still alive.

And then they find a shipwrecked Andalite prince off the western coast, and their luck turns potent.

Nureyev is unlike any being Juno’s ever met. He’s beautiful, and quicker with both knives and morphing than even Alessandra. (Juno tries and fails to not be instantly smitten… but at least the feeling is mutual.) He doesn’t share their weariness yet, or their nightmares, and it’s refreshing to talk to someone who knows what’s happening and isn’t afraid of it.

Nureyev tells them about Mag, the first Andalite Controller, and Miasma, the Yeerk at the heart of this war. He talks strategy and enemy vulnerabilities, tactical jargon that Sasha eats up with a spoon. Together the five of them design a plan of action.

_Four teens and an alien: saviors of Mars._ Juno thinks, privately, that the dream is laughable—but that doesn’t mean he’ll stop fighting for it.

Two years pass, and they make real, tangible progress. Khan and Loo are the first liberated Hork-Bajir Controllers, but they aren’t the last. Juno’s friend Rita reveals herself as an android Chee and becomes an invaluable ally, able to hack into any system. The Animorphs’ strikes are more and more effective as they settle into their roles: Sasha the general, Alessandra the tank, Nureyev the spy, Mick the wildcard. Juno, who throws himself into battle recklessly, always ready to take the first hit.

They win. Juno loses an eye. They win again. Nureyev kisses him under the stars, pointing out his home planet in a distant constellation. They defeat Miasma, then Mag, then Sarah, who’d worked her way up the ranks to become second-in-command of the Yeerk forces.

Finally, they face Ramses. Ramses, architect of the invasion, who had gone undercover as their high school principal of all things, and become the one adult Juno had considered trusting with their secret.

Ramses sees them coming for him, and he smiles.

And then he morphs into Ben.


End file.
